Student Empowerment: Successes of Youth Savings Clubs in Ghanaian Schools

Since 1999, the Ghana Co-operative Credit Union Association (CUA) Ltd. has hosted a Youth Savings Programme with the goal of "inculcating the habit of savings into the youth". The credit unions' apex organization saw the need to educate youth about saving, and the credit union system as a whole, to ensure a succession plan was in place for the credit union sector.

CUA Management also saw the need to educate their members and the youth in the credit unions' communities about healthy living so that members were strong and healthy enough to enjoy their savings. They therefore began HIV/AIDS awareness sessions that both educated members and youth alike on this and other sexually transmitted diseases. This education grew to include peer education and awareness training on stigma and discrimination as well as the need for behaviour change to reduce the increasing prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS in Ghana.

This past month, November 2007, the Youth Savings and HIV/AIDS Department at CUA has been to several of the countries' regions to speak to secondary students about the importance of saving and about current prevalence rates of HIV/AIDS in Ghana and the need to change their behaviour towards this and other STIs as well as towards those living with HIV/AIDS. Each presentation has followed the same format: Ms. Gabianu, the HIV/AIDS Education Co-ordinator at CUA, gives a brief history about the Youth Savings Programme and touches briefly on the reason CUA felt the need to put the programme into place; then I, the Youth Savings Intern, speak about the importance of practicing the habit of savings; finally, Maya Nakajima, the HIV/AIDS Education Intern, gives the students current statistics about the increasing prevelance rate of HIV/AIDS (from 2.7% in 2005 to 3.2% in 2006) in Ghana and the fact that youth aged 15-24 years make up 30% of those infected and those under 35 years of age make up 88%.

Each of our talks seem to be received with great enthusiasm on the part of the students. They cheer when we say our names, which to them are very exotic. They also cheer loudly when we incorporate Twi, the local language, into the presentation. It is all very exciting for the students as well as for us since we are so well received, but for me the most exciting part about these visits is learning about the students who have really made an effort to save the little that they do not need to get by in their day to day lives and have truly made a difference for themselves.

These student success stories come in various forms. There are those who have managed to pay their school fees and eliminated the need for administration to send them home to fetch it from their parents. There are those who have saved up enough to start up a small business during or after their secondary schooling. There are those who have paid for admission forms to post secondary institutions to continue their education. And then there are the few rare cases where students went above and beyond, either due to circumstance or due to a keen eye for a great opportunity.

The beauty of this programme is that it helps students to prepare for the future while putting ownership on them that the future is theirs and no one else's responsibility. In my speech to students about the importance of saving, I tell them about one of the students who used his saving to support his family in an unfortunate circumstance. One day, this student's family home burned to the ground. They had absolutely nothing left, no funds, nothing. It is very different here in Ghana than in North America. People often do not have enough income to warrant depositing their money in the bank or a credit union. Unfortunately, it is not a choice they make as they do not have the minimum savings required to maintain an open bank account. Therefore this family found themselves without any lodging, food, or money. The student used his personal savings to support his family for a week until they could figure things out. Had he not been a part of the youth savings programme, things may have been much more dismal for his family.

Another student set her mother up for success by using her savings to purchase a deep freezer for her. With this deep freezer, her mother managed to start up a small business and therefore generated enough income to pay her daughter's and other children's school fees.

There are many headmasters, headmistresses, teachers, and even students who are skeptical about the Youth Savings Clubs (YSCs) operating within 37 of Ghana's secondary schools and training colleges. They do not understand how individuals who can barely support themselves as it is can manage to save. But by putting away a tiny fraction of their pocket, lunch, or transportation money that they can manage to forget about and do without, students in Ghana are setting up a slush fund for themselves and creating a brighter future while learning about budgeting.